Gibbs rapped loudly on the door to Abby’s lab demanding entrance. They’d opted to make her lab the meeting place because it was far more private than the bull pen. While the case wasn’t exactly top secret, Vance and the SecNav were treating Shepard’s death as ‘need to know’. All five bodies in the morgue were currently listed as John Does. And nothing had been said to anyone about Shepard’s death. As far as most of the agency was concerned Shepard had come home for LA as scheduled and was taking a few days off.
Gibbs didn’t really care about the higher ups’ political machinations, but he readily appreciated the value of keeping what his team was up to quiet. He didn’t want or need Vance or the SecNav looking over their shoulders--especially not when their objectives didn’t mesh. He wanted to know what happened, see justice done as much as he was able to; Vance and the SecNav were simply looking to cover the agency’s ass.
“Who is it?” Abby called out in a sing song voice, responding to his knock.
“Who do you think it is?” Gibbs growled. “Open the damn door.”
“Right away, my silver fox.” She opened the door with a flourish.
He handed her a supersized Caf-Pow. She grinned at him, accepting the offering as both a gift and her due.
“What have you got for me, McGee?” Gibbs asked, striding further into the room knowing Abby was locking the door behind him. He took a healthy sip of his not quite hot enough to scald coffee.
“I was able to find a case that matched the number Franks gave you. It was a case Decker worked in 1985.”
“What was it?”
“I don’t know, Boss.” McGee shook his head. “Files of that age were in long term storage.”
Gibbs eyed McGee. “Same one that got flooded?”
“Yeah.” McGee winced. “I went to the records facility hoping to find something, but there was nothing to be found. The file was damaged beyond saving and got shredded along with anything else in that condition. Whatever Decker thought would keep him safe won’t be of any help to us.”
Gibbs bit back a curse. He had hoped to catch a break, but it was clearly not in the cards. He looked to Ziva. “You got any better news?”
“Depends on your point of view.” She pointed to the plasma screen that hung on Abby’s wall. Gibbs walked closer, studying the image closely.
“I was able to trace several transactions further than we’d gotten before by double checking any and all funds Shepard had access to. There was nothing unusual in her personal records, but not everything is so above wood with the NCIS accounts she had access to.”
“Above board, Ziva. Not wood.”
Ziva glared at McGee for his correction, but otherwise ignoring him as she continued speaking. “While there is no definitive proof that she actually embezzled any money, according to the NCIS budget and accounting department,” Ziva hit a button on the remote, highlighting several lines of the financial spreadsheet being displayed, “those funds were spent on equipment to upgrade Abby’s lab.”
“But I never got any new machines,” Abby pointed out. She looked both triumphant and disappointed.
“It appears Shepard diverted those funds.” Ziva keyed the remote again. “There were at least three other similar budget discrepancies. I cannot track of them directly to Tony DiNardo’s account or Shepard’s doctor, but the numbers match the amounts we saw there.”
Gibbs grimaced. It was small consolation that she wasn’t accepting payment from the CIA to betray Kort. While it wasn’t exactly blood money, stealing from NCIS wasn’t really any better.
“And our dead guys, Duck?”
“COD for all were gun shot wounds. Not really informative, I’m afraid.” Ducky sighed. “With Abby’s help I was able to identify three of the four.”
“Viggo you already know,” Abby put his picture up on the plasma screen. “Bad guy number two is Alexi Krashnikova.” She brought up another picture. “That’s not the name on his passport, by the way, but the name Interpol said matched his fingerprints. He’s been arrested a number of times on drug and weapon charges.” A third picture appeared. “Bad guy number three is Dimitri Romanski. He’s been arrested several times for assault, and held on murder charges but was never convicted. Apparently the only eye witness died before the case went to trial.” She displayed a fourth picture. “We don’t know who he is for sure. His passport gave him the name Peter Kaminski, but since none of the others are actually who their passports say they are, his is likely an alias as well. His prints weren’t in the system. Doesn’t mean he isn’t guilty of something, just that he has no record.”
“Muscle for the mob,” Gibbs murmured, more to himself than his team. He looked at Abby. “Any idea who they were working for?”
She shook her head. “There was nothing in their affects that would point a finger at who their boss might have been.” She played nervously with her fingers. “I’ve asked Interpol for more information on them but I haven’t heard from them yet.”
“We did get the footage from the airport,” McGee offered quickly as though trying to cover for what they didn’t have. “We got a look at the woman Viggo was traveling with.”
Gibbs nodded and pointed to the screen. “Show me.”
McGee tapped a few buttons on Abby’s keyboard. Gibbs stared at the blonde woman who was clearly getting in the same cab as Viggo. She looked familiar. He frowned trying to place her.
“I ran the facial recognition software on her to see what would turn up.” McGee told him.
“And I checked the passenger list, using the flight we knew Viggo was on,” Ziva offered a second later. “It helped narrow things down considerably.”
“The name we got was Natasha Lencov.” McGee interjected.
Gibbs hid a smile. He knew it was petty but he enjoyed their on going competitions to be first with information.
“There is no record of Natasha Lencov before 1999. She just appeared and runs what is apparently a very successful import export business.”
“Her sudden appearance is clearly questionable,” Ziva said. “Obviously it is an alias, but we have not yet been able to find out who she really is.”
“Her name isn’t Natasha, it’s Svetlana.” Gibbs shook his head, disappointed in himself that it took him so long to remember her. He turned to look at his team. He caught McGee and Ziva trading surprised looks.
“Boss, how do you-"“
“Because ten years ago, Shepard was supposed to kill her.”
“She was Jenny’s target?” Ziva cocked her head to one side, eyes narrowing as she studied the Svetlana’s picture more closely.
“Yeah.” Gibbs sipped his coffee. “Svetlana and her lover were involved in selling weapons, drugs, classified information. They were willing to procure just about anything for the highest bidder.”
“Your target was-"“
“Her lover.”
“And now she’s out for revenge?” Abby blinked, sounding more than just a little incredulous. “After waiting ten years?”
“To be fair, my dear,” Ducky offered quietly, “I doubt her desire for revenge is a recent occurrence. Jenny spent the same amount of time, if not more, attempting to bring down La Grenouille.” He nodded to Svetlana’s picture. “She may have lacked the necessary connections and resources to find the people involved in her lover’s demise. If I remember correctly what Jethro told us that case was a top-secret affair. There were aliases on both sides. Neither Jethro nor Jenny had any occasion to be in Europe again for years once the mission was completed. And NCIS has hardly been a large player in the world of espionage. Certainly not in the same league as the CIA, KGB, OSI or even Mossad. I doubt Svetlana even knew who to look for much less where to look for quite some time.”
Gibbs was sure the CIA had been more than willing to help her out on that score. They likely saw it as an ideal way to rid themselves of a problem. Either Svetlana killed Shepard, thereby ensuring no more interference from her, or Shepard killed Svetlana, taking out another arms dealer. If a few people got caught in the crossfire that wasn’t anything they’d concern themselves with. It would be just more collateral damage to be ignored. Fuckers.
“Do you think she knows her guys are dead?” Abby asked hesitantly.
“They’ve been out of contact for at least a day, if not more.” McGee pursed his lips thoughtfully. “Unless she’s just trusting they’ll get the job done and not confirm it, which I can’t see happening, she’s got to suspect things didn’t go the way she planned. I mean, after ten years, I’d think she’d wants proof of some kind--“
“Abby, do you have their cell phones?” Gibbs cut into McGee’s babbling.
“I do.” Abby nodded, looking apologetic. “I haven’t had a chance to do much with them yet.”
“Get me Viggo’s. She flew with him, so odds are good he was her contact not one of the others.”
“Gotcha, Boss.”
Abby stepped over to the table where five evidence bins sat lined up in a neat row. There was one bin for each of their bad guys and one for Shepard. Gibbs looked away from hers. He didn’t need to see her bloody clothing. He’d already seen it. And he was sure she hadn’t been carrying anything that would help them. Shepard was far too focused on covering her tracks to have slipped up by bringing anything to that diner that would incriminate her.
Abby plucked a bag from Viggo’s box. She handed it to Gibbs. He set his coffee down on the table before pulling on a plastic glove and then removing the blood stained phone. He flipped it open. There was only one number in the history.
“McGee, trace this number.”
“On it, Boss.”
Gibbs hit redial, and waited. He wasn’t surprised when a woman answered, speaking in Russian.
“Where have you been? I was expecting you to call hours ago.”
Gibbs responded in the same language knowing the only other person in the room who would likely understand was Ziva. “It’s hard for a dead man to make a call.”
There was a moment of silence. “Who are you?”
“I’m the one you’ve been looking for, Svetlana.”
“What is your name?” She demanded.
“That’s not important. What is important is that your men tried to kill Jenny Shepard.” There was no point in telling her that they’d succeeded if she didn’t already know that.
“You are a dead man.” Svetlana snarled.
“Funny, I’m feeling pretty good at the moment.”
“I will dance on your grave.”
“I’m sure you’ll be in good company.” Gibbs knew of several people who would probably join her in such a celebration.
McGee whispered. “No fix on where in DC yet, but she is in the city.”
“We should meet.” Gibbs waited a beat to see what her reaction would be. “No reason for any more of your men to die needlessly.”
“You are suddenly a brave man now?” She asked, disbelief and distain rife in her tone. “You killed my Yuri from a distance, not man enough to face him. You snuck away like a dog with his tail between his legs, hiding from me for years. And now I should believe you would meet me when you know I wish to put a bullet in your brain?”
“Maybe I’m just tired of running,” Gibbs told her, keeping his tone dry and mocking. He didn’t feel any guilt or shame over how he’d killed Yuri. The kill had been quick and clean. It had been sanction. And it wasn’t as if Yuri was some innocent. He’d killed dozens of people, trafficked in weapons, drugs, information and even people from time to time. He was hardly an alter boy.
“And you’ll meet me alone?” She snorted delicately. “I was not born yesterday.”
“I’m not the one who brought in others into this.” Gibbs softened his tone. “Let’s put an end to this, once and for all.”
“Where?”
Gibbs gave her the address for Shepard’s house. She already knew who Shepard was. Gibbs was sure Svetlana knew where she lived. Odds were good she’d already cased the house at some point.
“How do I know you are not already there, laying a trap for me?”
“You don’t, but it’s not like you have a lot of choices, do you?” Gibbs smirked. “You’re henchmen are dead. If you wait to get more, I’ll be gone tomorrow. This is a one-time offer. Take or leave it.”
“I’ll be there,” she ground out harshly, cutting the connection.
Gibbs closed the phone and put it back in the bag. He thought about handing it back to Abby, before thinking better of it. Svetlana had this number. And her number was programmed on it. Better to just keep it. He slipped the bag in his pocket.
Abby looked askance at him. McGee and Ducky were looking equally curious, clearly waiting to be filled in on what had been said.
Gibbs was sorely tempted to leave them in the dark. If he kept them out of it he could keep them safe--except that Tony hadn’t been in it at all and still got hurt. Tony’s team in Houston was just doing their jobs and became targets without even knowing it. And keeping his team out of the loop had proven to be a mistake in the past, one Gibbs had promised himself he wasn’t going to make again. And he'd promised Tony he wouldn't go without back up. Besides, Ziva clearly heard and understood his side of the conversation. She could, and likely would, fill in the others on as much as she knew.
“I’m going to meet her.”
“Gibbs??!! Are you crazy?” Abby demanded.
“Are you sure that’s wise, Jethro?” Ducky asked at the same moment.
“I didn’t say I was meeting her alone,” Gibbs snapped at them, halting any more questions. “Ziva, McGee you’re with me.”
“On your six, Boss.”
Gibbs nodded. “Abby, Ducky, keep working here on the case. We’ll be back.”
“You better be,” Abby said, her expression an odd mix of fear and fierceness.
Gibbs kissed her cheek. “It will be okay, Abby. I promise.”
He nodded to Ducky, looked at McGee and Ziva, gathering them with his eyes before turning and heading out of Abby’s lab. Svetlana was their only connection, the last viable lead they had for putting all the pieces together. Gibbs knew he could get her to talk. He had to.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Gibbs and his team get a link to the final piece of the puzzle...and they finally figure out where the money came from.